Genting-owned Crystal Cruises announced at the end of last week that it would not be going ahead with its plan to restore the long laid-up 38,200-gt record-breaking transatlantic liner into a deluxe US-flag cruiseship.

The company has therefore decided not to take up a purchase option it signed this year with the SS United States Conservancy, the non-profit preservation group that has owned the ship for the past five years.